Oklahoma, 2013

Drought in Oklahoma, September 1 to 30, 2013

September 1 to 30, 2013 · NWS AMA · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The month of September brought periods of monsoonal flow and as a result saw several precipitation events across the Oklahoma Panhandle. 98 inch above normal) for the month of September.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
$8.0 million
Events
3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.

The month of September brought periods of monsoonal flow and as a result saw several precipitation events across the Oklahoma Panhandle. Guymon recorded 2.77 inches of precipitation (0.98 inch above normal) for the month of September. This September ranked as the 12th warmest and the 24th wettest September for the Oklahoma Panhandle on record. The U.S. Drought Monitor showed a one category improvement for the month with only portions of Texas County remaining in the Extreme (D3) Drought rating. The remainder of the Oklahoma Panhandle falls in the Severe Drought (D2) rating.

The multiple heavy rain events during the month of September continued to provide relief to farmers across the Panhandle as upper zone soils have improved to greater than 100 percent of normal, and deeper soil zones ranging from 50 to 100 percent of normal. The Palmer Drought Severity Index rates the Oklahoma Panhandle at Moderate Drought due to the impact from the long range drought from the past three years. Water watches remain in effect for several public water systems through September while voluntary to mandatory water restrictions have been enacted.

Economic losses due to the drought through September were estimated near $2 million (D2)/$5 million (D3)/$10 million (D4) a county, and were predominately the result of delayed growth of corn and cotton, marginal supplemental watering, reduction of cattle herd sizes, and supplemental feed for cattle in pastures and rangeland.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 10:41 PM CST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 10:41 PM CST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1141 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013

.AVIATION...
06Z TAFS...ONGOING SHOWERS ACROSS THE OK PANHANDLE WILL CONTINUE TO
IMPACT KGUY OVERNIGHT...AND HAVE COVERED WITH A TEMPO GROUP THROUGH
09Z. CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY REMAIN VFR /ALTHOUGH BRIEF MVFR VSBYS IN
A HEAVIER SHOWER CANNOT BE RULED OUT/. AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WILL
LIKELY BRING SOME GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS TO AROUND 25 KTS TO KGUY OVER
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. COULD ALSO SEE A FEW SHOWERS IN THE
VICINITY OF KDHT OVERNIGHT...BUT CONFIDENCE IN A DIRECT IMPACT IS
LESS. ANY PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN NORTH OF KAMA
OVERNIGHT. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL TURN TO THE NORTHWEST AT KGUY AND
POSSIBLY KDHT OVERNIGHT FROM OUTFLOW...THE TRUE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH
SOUTH THROUGH THE PANHANDLES SUNDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL TURN TO THE
NORTHEAST BEHIND THE FRONT BUT LIKELY REMAIN BELOW 15 KTS. SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BEHIND THE FRONT AT ALL THREE
TERMINALS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT CONFIDENCE IN TIMING AND
LOCATION IS TOO LOW TO INCLUDE IN THE TAFS. OUTSIDE OF ANY
CONVECTION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE PERIOD.

KB

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 240 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013/

DISCUSSION...
ANOTHER DAY...ANOTHER DISCUSSION FOCUSED ON THE RIDGE.

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW NIGHT...A COLD FRONT IS STILL ON TRACK TO
ARRIVE IN THE OK PANHANDLE TOMORROW MORNING...AND THEN CONTINUE
PUSHING SOUTH THROUGH THE DAY. KEPT CLOSE TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST
WITH POPS FORM 20 TO 30 PERCENT. WAS HESITANT TO RAISE POPS AS
GENERALLY LIMITED INSTABILITY...EXCEPT IN THE NW PANHANDLES TOMORROW
AFTERNOON...AND LACK OF ANY UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL LIMIT THE
COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS.

MONDAY...KEPT THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THE MORNING IN THE W AND S TX
PANHANDLE. A FEW MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW PRECIP LINGERING AS LATE AS
MONDAY EVENING. HOWEVER...THE CENTER OF THE RIDGE SHOULD BE BUILDING
EAST...CLOSER TO THE REGION...AND WITH THE FRONT WELL SOUTH OF THE
REGION BY THAT POINT...THE STABLE BOUNDARY LAYER AND WIDE SPREAD
SUBSIDENCE SHOULD INHIBIT ANY CONVECTIVE INITIATION MONDAY AFTERNOON
OR EVENING.

TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...THE CENTER OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
REMAINS JUST WEST OF THE REGION THROUGH THIS TIME...LEADING TO A
RETURN ONCE AGAIN OF HOT AND DRY WEATHER THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE
WEEK.

FIRE WEATHER...
A COLD FRONT SET TO ARRIVE TOMORROW WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER
WEATHER WHICH WILL HELP TO KEEP RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ABOVE 20
PERCENT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...PRECLUDING ANY ELEVATED OR
CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

JOHNSON

&&

.AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE.

&&

08/11
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 31, 9:52 PM CST, 2 hours 8 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1052 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-011100-
CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB-
HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON-
GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH-
1052 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLE AND THE NORTHWESTERN SECTIONS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE.
SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS
TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER STORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES
SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS
TIME...HOWEVER LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH WILL BE
POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER STORMS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

SCHNEIDER

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Cimarron

When
September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Cimarron forecast zone
Crop damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
36.748, -102.518 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Moderate drought as shown by the US Drought Monitor.

Drought, Texas

When
September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Texas forecast zone
Crop damage
$4.0 million
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
36.748, -101.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme drought as shown by the US Drought Monitor.

Drought, Beaver

When
September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Beaver forecast zone
Crop damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
36.750, -100.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Moderate drought as shown by the US Drought Monitor.

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, September 2013

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 477620, 477621, 477622.